When I’m asked to describe myself, the first word that always comes to mind is ‘organized.’ I’m by far one of the most organized people I know. I get a little obsessive about it at times and yet I’ve never had the feeling that everything around me is organized. There’s always one more thing to color-coordinate or add labels to.

So thanks to my cleaning and organizing fetish, I have a new mini-tutorial on how to organize those really cumbersome sewing items.

I have a bucket of buttons, a basket of fabric scraps, and a Tupperware of fabric pencils and tape measures. Tidy. Organized. Beautiful. But when it came to my reels of ribbon, washi tape, bobbins and thread spools, I had one big messy drawer of the stuff. These items don’t really stack and when jumbled together in one big area, are hard to find and can really slow a project down.

My dad can look at just about anything and then go home and make it, so he made this handy dandy thread spool rack. Unfortunately, I was still feeling horribly unorganized over the drawer of washi tape, ribbon reels and impossible-to-find bobbins.

So I went to the hardware store and began brainstorming. Which I just want to throw out, is actually a horribly dangerous thing to do. Kind of creates a “system overdrive” type of feeling.

Then came the bobbins which took a little more thought and this idea will only work for your metal bobbins since I’m working off the fact that they’re magnetic.

Here’s what you’ll need:

(supplies)

square aluminum tubing (1″ diameter x 3′ long)

metal brackets with screws (1/2″)

magnetic tape (1/2″ wide)

super glue (hot glue would also work)

(tools)

drill

drill bit (3/8″)

tape measure

coping saw

purple mechanical pencil

Start out by measuring the space where you want your bobbins to go. I hung mine vertically but the great thing about this being a magnetic organizer is you can hang it however you wish, so play around with it. Give horizontal or even diagonal a try.

Once you’ve measured your space, you may need to trim some of the tubing. Use a coping saw for this and make sure you mark where you will be cutting. It takes some determination to stay on mark when cutting through tubing by hand, so make sure you draw a line where you’ll be cutting around the entire tube to ensure you stay on mark the whole way through. Oh, and use the purple pencil to do this. That’s essential.

You may want to use rough sandpaper to smooth out the cut edge once you’ve got the tubing the right size.

Now take a damp cloth and rub the entire tube down to remove any dust and debris.

Now you can add your adhesive magnet! Since the tube is 1″ in diameter and the magnet is 1/2″ inch, this is going to be a perfect fit – but only if you have the first strip of tape aligned perfectly with the edge of the tube. The trick is to do this without having to peel the magnet back up off the aluminum so as not to decrease the adhesiveness.

You will still likely have the ends of your magnet roll up, that’s just because it was wound in a circle in it’s packaging. No worries though, it’s nothing a dabble of super glue can’t fix.

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Then all that’s left is drilling holes in the side of the tubing where you want the brackets to go so you can anchor it to the wall, and voila!

The really exciting part of this project was the moment I realized that my little sewing scissors could also hang here. I may or may not have sung a little song about how there’s no stinkin’ way this worked out so well.

It’s been really uncharacteristically cold around here for late March and that seems to be putting a damper on my Easter spirit. I blame it on the lack of sun and vitamin D around this neck of the woods. Yesterday though I finally mustered up the energy to put my Easter tree together and now every time I see it, I am reminded that spring is here – despite the nine inches of snow that has yet to melt!

The great thing about an Easter tree is it’s symbolism. When I see this tree I am reminded of the warm, sunny days that lay ahead. As a symbol of spring, it’s also a symbol of new beginnings. New plants are soon to pop out of the ground, trees will soon begin showing their buds, and I’ll soon see baby bunnies popping in and out of the grass on my runs.

Making my Easter tree was really simple and only took me half an hour! Simply gather a bundle of sticks, Easter grass, plastic Easter eggs, and multi-colored feathers. You can find all of this, minus the sticks, at Michaels. Well I suppose you probably can get the sticks from Michaels too, but I highly recommend going for a walk and gathering them yourself. Trust me, you’ll feel better for it. I picked my sticks up from a pedestrian trail in St. Paul, so don’t give me the excuse that you live in a city and can’t go around looking for sticks. Cities have lots of sticks. Consider it a scavenger hunt to prep you for Easter morning!

I picked out plastic Easter eggs with holes in the top so it would be easy to tie string to them for hanging

Next I arranged my sticks in a large vase (using twist ties to keep them in order) and stuffed crumpled magazine pages around the sides to hold them in place. Leave about four inches at the top of the vase empty.

I then filled the last four inches with Easter grass, making sure to have it overflow just a bit.

Note: Easter grass is dangerous for your pets so be careful where you put your Easter tree and make sure you don’t leave any strands within their reach! The safest bet is to buy paper Easter grass.

Simply hang your plastic eggs with thread (I used white nylon upholstery thread) and hot-glue the feathers to the ends of your sticks for a bright, refreshing start to spring!

Step 1: Go for a walk, return with a bouquet of dead tree branches

Step 2: Tie plastic Easter eggs to tree branches

Step 3: Glue various brightly-colored feathers to ends of branches

If you’re having a family get-together this weekend, an Easter tree would be a great way to kick off a scavenger hunt! Simply hide your scavenger hunt clue inside the eggs you hang and assign an egg to each person by writing their name on the egg or designating a specific color to each person.

Since Brandon and I are at points in our careers where there’s always the possibility that we’ll be packing up and moving across the country in a matter of weeks, I’m trying not to use paint on any of the walls. Our previous apartment had horrible white walls which made the place feel like a hospital, so I attacked with an emerald green paint. It was earthy and warmed the space up, but also made moving out that much more daunting since we were required to paint them back to their original color.

In our current apartment I wasn’t sure what to do with the spare bedroom/office’s big empty wall, so I began brainstorming unique ways to create a photo gallery. What I came up with involves pvc pipes, primer, some Martha Living Metallic Glaze, pink ribbon, and several picture frames.

After gathering my supplies (including 1/2 inch pvc pipe and two 90 degree elbows of matching size) and getting the pvc pipe cut at Home Depot, I washed the pipe down with warm water and a rag – if you’ve ever worked with pvc before, you know how filthy it is from the store! Letting it dry at least a full day between each coating, I applied two coats of primer, followed by three coats of Martha Living Metallic Glaze Specialty Finish (Medallion, #358 899).

This glaze is so beautiful I want to paint everything with it just so I can keep looking at it!

The third coat took a little longer to dry but was completely worth it in the long haul. My goal was to create an industrial, exposed-pipe look to add character and give our apartment a look of antiqueness, similar to an old house.

To mount my faux exposed-pipes to the wall, I used stainless steel pvc brackets (covered in two coats of primer). While putting this project together, I debated whether to leave the brackets stainless steel, paint them gold, or paint them pink to match the ribbon. I kept trying to think of a way to camouflage them. I went with the primer though so they’d match our doors and baseboards. I’m happy with the added detail they give.

Lastly, I used 1-1/2 inch light pink ribbon to hang the pictures. Well, actually I used nails to hang the pictures, but I pulled the ribbon snug and put the nails through the ribbon ends to give an illusion that these hanging picture frames are being held up by the ribbon itself.

I used mismatched picture frames but tied them together by making sure they were all mostly black. I also hung the pictures at varying heights to tie in the mismatched nature of my frames.

My final product provides a fun way to display various photos and adds character to an entire wall without making the room feel cluttered.

Curious about the pictures currently on display? Well speaking of antiqueness, the green flowerpot birthday card is from an old reserve of cards my Grandma D came across. They are so beautiful. // The pictures of actual flowers were taken by Brandon in our old college town – Decorah, IA. // Then at the bottom of this collage is a picture from when I studied abroad in New Zealand. The picture is of the South Island as I was on a ferry headed to the North Island. // I also have a picture of my little sister from way back when while she was playing dress up and making monkey faces. I have taken this picture everywhere with me. I love it. The quote I have scrap-booked onto the picture says “Live every day like it’s your first” // Lastly, a framed bag that my New Zealand greenstone necklace came in – the print is of the Māori symbol for good fortune and positive energy.

Since these pictures are hanging on nails, it’ll be easy to rotate what photos I have on display, which means this will be a great way to decorate with the seasons!